You know I don't go for the 'wild, unproven' stuff. As for the cartoon - come on, it's satire. We need more of that.

The bad news is that there really is no good solution for Syria IMHO in terms of any foreign Policy position available to us. I just dont' know how we can crack that egg. It seems that the only positive thing we can do is try to provide humanitarian aid. Sadly, the proposed budget cuts way back on that. Even though foreign aid represents about 1 percent of our overall budget

You see, if we bomb Assad, we are acting as ISIS air force. The big fight in Syria is between ISIS and Assad. The KURDS are holding their own and it looks like they are going to end up getting their own country by default. The KURDISH military/militia make use of lots of female soldiers. They do so for a very simple reason. The ISIS guys are told that if they get killed by a woman on the battlefield, they will NEVER get in to paradise. So they see a women with a sniper rifle, and they sorta wet themselves. They are going to defend the turf they have carved out no matter what.

So we have Iranian backed Militia and ISIS going up against Russian backed (the primary source of of all of Assad's Military Arms are from Russian Contractors, sadly) This is good news for Russia in that their weapons are on display for the world to see and the 'marketing effect" was expected to raise arms shipments from russia by 7 BILLION DOLLARS.

So Russia is just there to do business. Especially since their economy has been in the tank (pun) ever since the price of oil took a nose dive. No worries, they can make it up on volume discounts in tanks/guns/etc.

So on one side you've got the Assad regime, with enough Russian Military Gear to last til the end of time, on the other side you have ISIS (sworn enemy of the west) and various Iranian backed Militia including Hezbollah (classified as a terrorist group according to the CIA and also sworn enemy of the west).

We can't really support either side and still keep any kind of "Moral Authority" or "World Leadership" or even dignity, IMHO. All we can really do is try to help the poor souls caught in the middle. The Syrian people. Did sending a few cruise missiles change anything? Nope. Just looked good in the headlines. So I'd say boost the amount of food /medical supplies/etc. as best as we can and try to help any families that are seeking asylum. That's about all we can really do, it seems.

The bad news is that there really is no good solution for Syria IMHO in terms of any foreign Policy position available to us. I just dont' know how we can crack that egg. It seems that the only positive thing we can do is try to provide humanitarian aid. Sadly, the proposed budget cuts way back on that. Even though foreign aid represents about 1 percent of our overall budget

You see, if we bomb Assad, we are acting as ISIS air force. The big fight in Syria is between ISIS and Assad. The KURDS are holding their own and it looks like they are going to end up getting their own country by default. The KURDISH military/militia make use of lots of female soldiers. They do so for a very simple reason. The ISIS guys are told that if they get killed by a woman on the battlefield, they will NEVER get in to paradise. So they see a women with a sniper rifle, and they sorta wet themselves. They are going to defend the turf they have carved out no matter what.

So we have Iranian backed Militia and ISIS going up against Russian backed (the primary source of of all of Assad's Military Arms are from Russian Contractors, sadly) This is good news for Russia in that their weapons are on display for the world to see and the 'marketing effect" was expected to raise arms shipments from russia by 7 BILLION DOLLARS.

So Russia is just there to do business. Especially since their economy has been in the tank (pun) ever since the price of oil took a nose dive. No worries, they can make it up on volume discounts in tanks/guns/etc.

So on one side you've got the Assad regime, with enough Russian Military Gear to last til the end of time, on the other side you have ISIS (sworn enemy of the west) and various Iranian backed Militia including Hezbollah (classified as a terrorist group according to the CIA and also sworn enemy of the west).

We can't really support either side and still keep any kind of "Moral Authority" or "World Leadership" or even dignity, IMHO. All we can really do is try to help the poor souls caught in the middle. The Syrian people. Did sending a few cruise missiles change anything? Nope. Just looked good in the headlines. So I'd say boost the amount of food /medical supplies/etc. as best as we can and try to help any families that are seeking asylum. That's about all we can really do, it seems.

In other news, I'll go ahead and predict it. SEAN SPICER IS GOING TO BE REPLACED, fired, swapped, let go, forced out, etc. All this drama over his mis-speaking a bit on Hitler / the use of chemical weapons, has put too much heat on him and he's become a liability. I'm not reacting to his statement, I'm predicting the outcome Trump will distance himself, probably within a week or so. Time will tell.

We can't really support either side and still keep any kind of "Moral Authority" or "World Leadership" or even dignity, IMHO. All we can really do is try to help the poor souls caught in the middle. The Syrian people. Did sending a few cruise missiles change anything? Nope. Just looked good in the headlines. So I'd say boost the amount of food /medical supplies/etc. as best as we can and try to help any families that are seeking asylum. That's about all we can really do, it seems.

Well said! Yet the entire world is doing the exact opposite! Why aren't we letting these poor people into our countries? Their reality is a pure nightmare. The recent terror attack here in Sweden was just a piss in the ocean, in comparison.

The entire situation is quite sad. To make it worse, we are "closing our borders" and such to protect ourselves from families trying to flee the horror. This, in a nation that 70 percent self identify as Christian. I'm guessing Christ would be the guy helping people, and families, not the guy sending them back at the border. Somehow, we, as a country, don't see this hypocrisy as a problem, but as a "security measure". I see it as a darn shame. Then again, even if we sent wads of aid, it would get stopped by whatever militia was controlling a given area. For us to actually help, we would have to get folks out of the killing zone. Then folks start saying "Terrorists are hiding among them". Which, who knows, they might be. But we have plenty of folks here doing crazy shit, so a few more wouldn't be that bad IMHO if it means we can help some families who need it. Just today some nut job went in to a grade school and shot his ex wife and two students. 3 folks dead and every child traumatized, but after he killed her, he killed himself so the case is closed and it wasn't terrorism. Just a nut job with a gun. So yeah, I"m not that worried about trouble from folks fleeing the war zone to be honest. We have plenty of trouble here already. I'd risk a bit more if it meant we could help.

Todd

QUOTE (Kristofer Dahl @ Apr 12 2017, 04:01 AM)

Well said! Yet the entire world is doing the exact opposite! Why aren't we letting these poor people into our countries? Their reality is a pure nightmare. The recent terror attack here in Sweden was just a piss in the ocean, in comparison.

Well said! Yet the entire world is doing the exact opposite! Why aren't we letting these poor people into our countries? Their reality is a pure nightmare. The recent terror attack here in Sweden was just a piss in the ocean, in comparison.

can you answer me honestly , Do you hate the fact that you were born into such a privileged society ?

Well said! Yet the entire world is doing the exact opposite! Why aren't we letting these poor people into our countries? Their reality is a pure nightmare. The recent terror attack here in Sweden was just a piss in the ocean, in comparison.

I am extremely blessed to have been born here and Now . I'm just trying to understand the mindset of this statement . Could you have said that if it was your wife a daughters that were killed ?

Do you think he might have done it because your so called handouts were not so " hot " after all ?

All of my relatives who stayed in Europe were killed by Nazis. All of them. My family has no Holocaust 'survivors'. I don't hate Germans. I'm also fine with letting Nazis march. They have a right to assemble.

All of my relatives who stayed in Europe were killed by Nazis. All of them. My family has no Holocaust 'survivors'. I don't hate Germans. I'm also fine with letting Nazis march. They have a right to assemble.

The urge to protect "me and mine" is quite strong and I"m not immune to it, it's a natural thing, and a good thing by and large. When the collective "me and mine" gets together, it can get out of hand. Politicians often use this type of thing as a fear based manipulation to exaggerate a given threat so as to use it as a form on control or to use it pass legislation that does not favor the people. Remember, any Govt, indeed any organization with funding only wants to do 2 things. Survive and Grow. The result of this is expansion of things like the DEA. Each org must meet their "numbers" to get their . budget renewed. Often they exaggerate the their results to get more money and grow more. An even better example is the DHS (department of homeland security) currently the largest govt entity in the entire US Govt. We keep letting ourselves get scared by things that are not likely to happen to us, but that happen to someone, so we give up a bit more of our freedom. Politicians play on this to grow their own influence. We don't let them have their way unless they can point to an enemy of credible threat.

Problem is, the current enemy of credible threat, ISIS, recruits online and makes people living in the states in to their instruments. As we know, the web is eternal so once a recruitment vid goes up, you can't get rid of it. This conflict will be generational. Meaning that our childrens, childrens children will still be trying to see the fine line between being manipulated by the politicans and or media, and the truth of a given threat. It's the "FOREVER WAR" that was talked about in George Orwells 1984. We are inching closer and closer to "THOUGHT CRIME" being a real thing.

When you can be "detained" for simply stating your thoughts on a given issue online, "Thought Crime" is a real thing. I think folks should be able to speak their minds online even if I don't like what they are saying, without risking jail time. Even if what they say is offensive. I do draw the line at "Hate Speech", but that's very hard to nail down legally. I'd define it as speech leading to violent action, which is again hard to prove. It's the violent action part that I'm really against. Folks grabbing a weapon and shooting innocent people, or running them down in a car.

I don't have the answer to this, or I'd be rich beyond belief or detained I hope we, as a society, come to find workable answers as we move forward. Because these issues will haunt our grand children. If we get it wrong now, I fear for the future generations in a serious way.

American Nazis (Aryan Nation, etc.) have killed plenty here. They can still march. It's a free country. They need to have the freedom to assemble so that I can have that same freedom to rail and rally against them and what they stand for. It's a free country.

American Nazis (Aryan Nation, etc.) have killed plenty here. They can still march. It's a free country. They need to have the freedom to assemble so that I can have that same freedom to rail and rally against them and what they stand for. It's a free country.

yes they have killed , but there only 5000 ( membership ) and they have not killed lately . And I will stand with you with my guns to protect you from them Ken ! On the other hand , People have killed in the name of black lives matter , and society gets blamed .

So are my fears of black lives matter justified over my fears of Nazi's ?

yes they have killed , but there only 5000 ( membership ) and they have not killed lately . And I will stand with you with my guns to protect you from them Ken ! On the other hand , People have killed in the name of black lives matter , and society gets blamed .

So are my fears of black lives matter justified over my fears of Nazi's ?

If it comes to that I will gladly accept your help. Here's to hoping it doesn't.

There's always stuff to be scared of I guess. Nazis are are probably the better organized (and patient) as they've had a lot more time to prepare for whatever it is that they think they're preparing for. But as a wise man once said, "Fear is interest paid on a debt you may not owe".

Irrational fear pretty much defines the right wing of the political spectrum these days. From 9/11/2001 until today (or 2016, depending on how you classify the Orlando attack) there have been more terrorist attack deaths on US soil perpetrated by right wing extremists than any other ideological group, including islamic jihadists.

Irrational fear pretty much defines the right wing of the political spectrum these days. From 9/11/2001 until today (or 2016, depending on how you classify the Orlando attack) there have been more terrorist attack deaths on US soil perpetrated by white supremacists than any other ideological group, including islamic jihadists.

Irrational fear pretty much defines the right wing of the political spectrum these days. From 9/11/2001 until today (or 2016, depending on how you classify the Orlando attack) there have been more terrorist attack deaths on US soil perpetrated by white supremacists than any other ideological group, including islamic jihadists.

Thats a pretty bold statement without any statistics to back it up .

If I get any information that isn't from the pew research , Todd says it isn't worth much , so in all fairness , I have to ask the same of you